ALICE — Churchill had gone from fourth place to the fourth round, but another impressive baseball playoff run was no consolation on Saturday.

A late rally fell short as Laredo Alexander eliminated the Chargers with a 6-5 victory in Game 3 of the Class 5A regional semifinal series.

Churchill had the go-ahead run on base in the sixth inning and the tying run aboard in the seventh, but couldn't find a timely hit.

“This is heartbreaking, especially when you know you had the chances,” Churchill shortstop/pitcher Zane Gurwitz said. “We've come back so many times, and our chance was there again.”

After Alexander won 3-2 in Game 1 on Friday, Churchill bounced back with a 6-2 victory in Game 2 on Saturday to force a doubleheader.

In Game 2, sophomore Joseph Dimaline (4-0) threw a complete game with five strikeouts to keep the Chargers' season alive.

Trailing 6-4 in the fifth inning of Game 3, Churchill had the bases loaded and Gurwitz batting. Gurwitz, a .487 hitter this season as a junior, already had been given two intentional walks on Saturday.

“When Gurwitz was batting, I was praying,” Alexander coach Mario Garcia said. “He's a great hitter, and we would have walked him there if we could.”

Gurwitz hit a high fly ball off Bulldogs reliever Alex Ortiz, and it was caught for a sacrifice fly as one run scored. Ortiz got Johnny Whalen to pop out and end the inning.

Churchill got the tying run on base again in the seventh when Colby Beal reached on an error, but Ortiz got two quick outs to end the game.

It's the second straight year the Bulldogs have knocked the Chargers from the playoffs. Last season, Alexander beat Churchill 5-4 in Game 3.

Alexander (30-6) will face Corpus Christi Carroll (30-4) in the regional final next week.

Alexander took the lead with a five-run fifth inning. Trailing 3-1, E.J. Garcia hit a bases-loaded double off Gurwitz to tie the game and another run scored on an error to give Alexander the lead.

Garcia scored on a sacrifice fly and Danny Benavides added an RBI triple as Gurwitz (6-1) took his first loss.

Nate Harris, who threw a complete game on Friday in Game 1, threw 21/3 scoreless innings in relief.

After a slide late in the regular season, Churchill (31-8) finished fourth in District 26-5A. The Chargers defeated 25-5A champion New Braunfels, Corpus Christi King and 27-5A champion O'Connor to reach the regional semifinals.

Churchill was the area's last remaining 5A team for the third straight year.

“We've been through so much this year, but I thought we were going to get to play another week,” Harris said. “When we started to rally, I was 100 percent sure we were coming back.”